I've just finished a private session with over 30 CEOs here in Davos discussing how to drive sustainable consumption and enable growth. The key challenge that underpins this issue is that we are not getting to scale at speed with many of the sustainability initiatives that already exist, as the World Economic Forum and Accenture's latest report, More with Less: Scaling Sustainable Consumption and Resource Efficiency shows. Indeed, CEOs of consumer goods companies who were part of this project were clear: to address the issue of scale and sustainable consumption, the fundamental dynamics of supply, demand and rules of the game will need to be shifted to support a world in which we are able to drive growth but with less impact on the natural environment.

For countries and companies the case for doing this, and the size of the prize, is clear. Analysis in the report shows that US$2tn of GDP could be saved in 2030 by adapting to resource constraints across key areas such as carbon, steel and iron. That is just in 2030 – there is money at stake for every year we don't act. At a time of economic recession in large parts of the globe, such numbers are too big to ignore.

There are a host of initiatives out there that are trying to seize the economic prize – but efforts to date have focused largely on hardwiring the system through supply-side fixes such as driving sustainability in end-to-end value chains and through policy and regulatory measures. While many countries and companies are trying to act, I believe that a third 'C' holds the key to success: the consumer.

With an additional 3bn middle class consumers expected by 2030 – the majority in emerging and developing economies - both the challenge and the opportunity are intensifying. On the one hand, of course, this will bring significant pressures on the supply of key resources and commodity prices. But, with appropriate incentives and behaviours in place, it can also drive a new wave of innovation in terms of how we meet demand without accelerating resource depletion. This is not to say that supply and rules of the game aren't important – they most certainly are. But the consumer angle is often overlooked.

The conventional wisdom within many businesses and governments is that consumers don't care, or perhaps more importantly cannot be coaxed, into translating concern into buying behaviours beyond the margins – and that consumers are only motivated by price. It is important to challenge this thinking if we are to push the boundaries. Some 72% of European consumers now say they are prepared to pay a premium for sustainable products. And in emerging markets, 80% of consumers place more trust in a brand that is ethically and socially responsible.

We may not have all the answers in terms of how to engage with these consumers, but it seems that a leading group of CEOs in the consumer goods industry are recognising that a wider set of concerns are informing the choices of today's citizens.

In order to drive consumer engagement it is critical that businesses develop new models and try untested paths. The discussions in Davos highlighted the importance of three critical actions that businesses need to take: listen to what consumers want and need, observe their actual behaviours (using the tools of behavioural psychology and economics) and lead by designing better products and services. People buy products because they are great products first. So let's design with sustainability at the centre. It's not an either/or.

Technology will be a critical enabler for speed to scale and consumer engagement. The TV took eight years to reach a market of one million consumers; it took the iPad 8 days. By 2013, two billion mobile users will have made purchases via their handsets. Companies that enable multi-way dialogue through new technologies such as iPhone applications, web 2.0 or RFID will be well positioned to tap into the new markets created by consumers willing to put their money where their mouth is. As Marc Bolland, CEO of Marks & Spencer said in an interview I conducted for More With Less, "technology will drive ever greater transparency throughout supply chains, empowering customers and asking for greater levels of engagement between sustainable business models and consumers."

As every business knows, if you don't meet the needs of the customer, you are sunk. That's no less true in pursuing sustainable consumption. And it is the only way to scale sustainability. Listening to consumers, observing behaviour and delivering innovative products and services offers the most sustainable way of doing less with more while realising competitive advantage.